Comparison Between Fast Foods - If You Have To

In my previous posts, I've always had a very strong opinion to AVOID any forms of fast foods when you are in training or on a diet. Reason behind this is because regardless of what you try to do, there is nothing worse than having your entire week's worth of diet ruined because of generic, fatty fast food in your system.

But let's be realistic, there are situations where sometimes you can't help yourself with a fast food portion every now and then. In the end, we are still human...

[Fatty, fast food goodness...]

So for this segment, we're here to help you guys out. IF YOU HAVE TO, one should compare between all the popular fast foods, which are the better option compared to its similar counterpart when it comes to maintaining your diet regime.

Burgers
We start off with the most common culprit among all the "fast food villains" which of course are burgers. Nothing beats the hunger pains better than a quick bite of a burger in the middle of the night (or day for some!). So for this, we have divided the study to chicken burgers and beef burgers.

Beef Burgers

Best Option: Surprisingly, the McDonald's Quarter Pounder is the safest bet for your diet among all the burgers available around town. Taking into consideration to the size portion it does the least amount of damages to your diet.

Worst Option: The Carl's Jr. Portobello Mushroom Burger is unsurprisingly is the worst option you can take when you are on a diet. High level of calories (almost double to the closest competitor) with very oily burgers is something you definitely want to avoid!

Chicken Burger

Best Option: Once again, in comparison with the others, the McDonald's McChicken Burger is once again the safest bet, offering a much lesser fat and calorie count compared to the rest.

Worst Option: This time around, the Burger King burgers has the highest fat and carb content in their burgers, making it the worse option among its counterpart.

Fries
While the above chart shows the amount you are ingesting with just the burgers, fries can sometimes contribute to the downfall of your own diet as well.

Best Option: The biggest issue with fries is the deep fried oil and salt that has been included in the portions. No surprise that the KFC Potato Wedges (without cheese) is the cleanest option you can get among the lot.

Worst Option: As mentioned above, due to the large salt and oil content in their fries, McDonalds kinda missed the mark here with their fries.

Breakfast Meals
Despite Samuel L Jackson once said in Pulp Fiction that "hamburgers are the cornerstone of every American breakfast", we beg to differ when it comes to your diets.

Best Option: For breakfast, the McDonald's Egg McMuffin seem to lead the way with it's content. Quite possibly one of their best in their menu by far.

Worst Option: Once again, Carl's Jr. leads the way with their breakfast burgers being one of the largest portion and of course, highers content in comparison to most of its competitors.

Pizzas

Finally to top it off (excuse the pun), we have the all time favorite fast food which are Pizzas! This Italian favorite becomes a very hot commodity in the fast food business since it was made popular in most TV sitcoms around the world (surprisingly mine would be from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!)

Best Option: Since we only have 3 to compared among the popular brands in the Malaysian market, we concluded based on the nutrition facts that the Domino's Pizza your safest bet when maintaining your diet.

Worst Option: As the battle of the pizza's conclude, Pizza Hut All American classic pizzas unfortunately is something you would want to avoid while on a diet.

Our findings above serve as a guidance on what you should and should not eat among all the fast foods available in the Malaysian market when maintaining a diet. Perhaps, this may be a very good guide for you guys out there who are looking for a safe "cheat meal" when in training every now and then.

HOWEVER, we here once again stress that you avoid ALL TYPES OF FAST FOOD while dieting to train. Believe us when we tell you that there is nothing more demotivating after a long 4 week struggle of maintaining your diet and seeing it all being flushed away because of a quick indulgence that strays you away from your diet.